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The teasers about the debut of the Oktober Guard have been handled really well, making it sound like a pretty major G.I. Joe universe event, which is cool in my eyes. In the Marvel Universe, Larry treated the Oktober Guard pretty seriously, making them very impactful members of the G.I. Joe continuity, but they haven’t really gotten that much love in the toy world. Sure we got the excellent comic packs in 2004, and of course the G.I. Joe Collectors’ Club just blew us away with the Operation: Bear Trap Convention set, but beyond that, to folks who only know G.I. Joe through the cartoons and retail shelves, the Oktober Guard is relatively invisible.

Mike Costa and Antonio Fuso jump right into the world of these Russian Special Forces troops and take them in pretty different directions. But what was the end result?

I gotta be honest… I was stunned at the turn out for Round One of the Concept Case Survey. I’ve always suspected that the online G.I. Joe community was fairly small, and while we’re obviously vocal and enthusiastic, I had my doubts about how many folks would be motivated to sit through a 10 minute survey.

Turns out over 1100 of you were, and I’m very thankful for that. Truth is, the more folks that vote, the more impact the votes have, and if Hasbro sees the fandom taking the time to let their voices be heard, the more likely they are to take our input into consideration.

Along with the previews this morning, IDW also made available their solicitations for October, 2012, including a full compliment of G.I. Joe titles. We see the fourth (and final) issue of the Danger Girl/G.I. Joe crossover as well as new issues of Cobra, G.I. Joe, Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, and of course G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. The whole Target: Snake Eyes initiative kicks off this month as well, which actually excites me, especially if it can approach the levels of coolness we got with Cobra Command.

Of course, these releases are hitting in “Oktober” as well… a theme you will quickly recognize in the titles below.

Good stuff all around. Click the Read the Rest of the Story link below for the full list.

Obviously lots of concern was immediately voiced, specifically about G.I. Joe: Cobra, which many fans consider the best of the current running comics, to say nothing about its ties to G.I. Joe. Cobra writer Mike Costa has evidently heard the concern, and voiced some reassurances via his Twitter page:

“Everyone’s concern has really been a huge compliment to me, but I want to assuage your fears: I am not leaving the Joe franchise”

What does this mean in the grand scheme of things? Seems pretty unlikely that the Cobra title would remain the only G.I. Joe themed comic that IDW does, so my first guess is that this issue has been somewhat overblown.

While there is no doubt that some streamlining is likely taking place, my guess is that it’s not as serious as some folks are making it out to be. Time will tell, and hopefully we’ll get some sort of formal announcement at C2E2.

UPDATE – Thanks to Troynos from the ComixVerse who reached out to John Barber and got even better clarification about IDW’s statements. Check them out here, and also quoted below.

“I think Dirk (Wood, IDW’s VP Of Marketing) was actually talking in vaguer terms than any concrete plan; the basic gist is that we’re aware that (in general terms) there are a lot of groups of titles from a lot of publishers where there are a LOT of titles (like Avengers or X-Men or whatever). We’re aware of overburdening the market with a lot of anything–Joe, Turtles, X-Men, anything, no matter how popular–can have an overall negative effect on sales. Plus, I’ve got to admit that the GI JOE trade paperback numbering and the several-times renumbering of series like Cobra over the years is pretty confusing… and we’re trying to not be confusing going forward. What exactly that means, we’re not sure (other than I don’t want to have a GI JOE: COBRA: COBRA CIVIL WAR: VOL 2 and a GI JOE: COBRA CIVIL WAR: VOL 2 book and have them be different books…). But it’s not really any paring back on anything. It was more about assuring retailers we’re not going to flood the market with confusing material. We had a month or two with the movie-tie-in series plus some specials where there was a TON of Joe comics out the same month; we’ll try to spread the wealth more over a longer period of time.

So there’s still going to be plenty of GI Joe; D&D has never had more than one ongoing and a limited series; Magic’s never been more than one series at a time.”

Big props to Troy for reaching out and getting clarification. Glad to hear this was misinterpreted.

I was continuously impressed throughout the run of Cobra Command that Mike Costa was able to not only retain his own unique flavor of story telling throughout parts of this long-running story, but that he was also able to still mesh with what Chuck Dixon was doing in his titles as well. The result was a very seamless 9-part storyline that told a great tale and flowed effortlessly from one part to another…yet all at once, Costa also retained that slight edge that makes the Cobra title so great.

Well now that Cobra Command proper is in the rear view mirror, Mike Costa jumps right back into the Cobra title with both feet, and instantly thrusts us back into the aesthetic that we’ve grown to love with the title, and he absolutely nails it, delivering one of the best issues of a comic that I’ve read so far this year. Any fans of the Cobra series in its infancy will love this issue, and I think G.I. Joe fans in general should dig it as well.

Cobra Command has come and gone, and the ramifications are still being felt. By the looks of this next issue of Cobra, I think we’re in for a very cool retrospective issue. I love how Chuckles has become such an immortal character in the IDW universe. They’ve done such a great job with him.

Check out the five page preview below, and be ready to hit up your local comic store tomorrow to get the book in hand!

Cobra Ongoing #12

Mike Costa (w) • Antonio Fuso (a) • Antonio Fuso, David Williams (c)

COBRA COMMAND AFTERMATH! Devastated by the events in COBRA COMMAND, the team reflects on the life and death of fan-favorite character, CHUCKLES. Meanwhile, the survivors of COBRA COMMAND make peace with horrors of the past… and prepare the horrors of the future.

Tomorrow is new comic day, and a pair of new G.I. Joe themed comics are hitting your local comic store. G.I. Joe: Retaliation #3 continues the pre-movie adventures of Roadblock and Snake Eyes, while G.I. Joe: Cobra #11 puts a bow on the thrilling Cobra Command story arc.

Check out the 5-page previews below and don’t forget to hit up your LCS to pick up those issues!

Loikamania is a mostly comic-based podcast, which occasionally drifts over into wrestling talk, but comic professionals make regular appearances throughout podcast episodes. Special attention from G.I. Joe fans should be paid to Episode 81, which was actually released a couple of weeks ago.

In Episode 81, Pat Loika brings in Christos Gage and Mike Costa and does a blow-by-blow “writer’s commentary” of G.I. Joe: Cobra Volume 1. The two writers of the series talk about the evolution of the best G.I. Joe book on shelves today and offer some great behind the scenes intel and conversation about the book.

Another week, another installment in the Cobra Command multi-part adventure. IDW continues to use the same art team along with their regular compliment of writers to carry the story along and maintain a great sense of unity even as it hops from title to title. The results so far have been excellent, in my opinion.

What I really love about how the Cobra title is treating this story is that they are staying very much in continuity and sticking with the format, but you can definitely smell the Cobra vibe as you read the pages. This issue is no different.

Click the Read the Rest of this Entry link below to check out the full review.

Wednesday brings us the next installment in the Cobra Command storyline, with Cobra #10!

Cobra Ongoing #10

Mike Costa (w) • Alex Cal (a) • Dave Wilkins, Antonio Fuso (c)

COBRA COMMAND CONTINUES! As the new COBRA COMMANDER lashes out against an unprepared world, the rest of Cobra questions The Council’s decision… with deadly results. Meanwhile, the Joes search for a pattern in Cobra’s attacks, and a fan-favorite character returns—but will even that be enough to turn the tide of battle?

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

*Variant covers:

Vertically inter-connected variant Tom Whalen cover!

Bullet points:

PART 6 of the G.I. JOE crossover, “COBRA COMMAND”!

A rolling nine-issue crossover between all three ongoing G.I. JOE titles, all with the same art team!

Ask your retailer about the special vertically inter-connected Tom Whalen variant covers on all three titles!